Cupid Bark

Pat and I don’t make a big deal of Valentines Day, maybe a heart shaped pizza but that’s about it. I thought it would be fun this year to make him some homemade chocolates. With little time and zero patience for tempering chocolate, I decided to go the route of rustic chocolate bark rather than fussy candies. If you can melt a bag of chocolate chips, you can do this.

Let’s talk about melting chocolate, shall we? Chocolate is a fickle creature with a low melting point that seizes up if it gets too warm. Once scorched, chocolate is lost forever. While the microwave definitely works, I prefer to make a bain-marie (water bath or double boiler) out of a pot of barely simmering water with a heat-proof bowl atop. The steam from the hot water warms the bowl providing gentle and even heat to melt the delicate chocolate.

The beauty of chocolate bark is that anything goes. I decided to up the flavor and texture factor here with two different versions, a strawberry cream and a peanut butter crunch. Top it with cereal, crushed potato chips, pretzels, nuts, dried fruit, sprinkles, flaky salt, or whatever you have in your pantry. This is a great project to make with your kids too. Most importantly, have fun with it!